Reconciliation
by Ro-RoWeasley
Summary: Ali Hardy - DW: The Nightmare of Black Island - is now 17 and living in Cardiff, but her life is about to get even more chaotic. Meet the new Torchwood team: Captain Jack Harkness, Gwen Cooper, Mickey the idiot, Martha Jones, Rex Matheson and Luke Smith.
1. Prologue

**Reconciliation  
><strong>Prologue<strong>**

* * *

><p>My name is Ali Hardy. I'm 17 years old.<br>When I was ten, my life changed forever.

In 2006, I met the Doctor and his friend Rose Tyler. I helped them save my village and the world from reoccurring nightmares. But after that, they left. Like they had finished the job they came to complete and now they were free to leave.  
>But for all of us who were left behind, it was only the beginning.<p>

o o o

Finally, one by one, each family packed up and moved on. There was nothing else to do.  
>If we stayed put, then we would only be haunted by what had happened. Whereas going somewhere different would mean a new start.<p>

My family was the last to leave. My parents couldn't bear to leave the family business - the village pub called The Owl and Badger - but just like everyone else had shown, there was no real point in staying.

So we moved to London, which turned out to be the first major mistake in my life.  
>Because within weeks of settling down, it all went wrong.<p>

The Battle of Canary Wharf came too soon. Cybermen and Daleks everywhere. It wasn't fair. Not after we thought we'd escaped it all. But it seemed we were not destined to be free.

The Battle of Canary Wharf took my mother.  
>She'd gone out shopping. Dad and I were in the house finishing chores and completing school work. The attack was all over the news and when she didn't return that night we feared the worst.<p>

Now we couldn't bear to stay in London. So we packed up again and went back to Wales. The capital this time. Dad said he'd feel more at home in his own country and Cardiff was a lot more alive than a small, lonely village so we could blend in without any questions.  
>This time, everything seemed to work in our favour.<br>I enrolled in high school, made new friends and passed my GCSEs without interference. We actually managed to stay in the same place and live an almost normal life. For six years, it seemed our lives had been turned around for the better.

And then the Doctor returned. Alone this time.  
>It turned out that my high school was situated along the line of a time-space rift which was thought to have been permanently closed. Except that it had expanded and had only been dormant.<br>It was attacked by alien creatures.

It was a perfectly ordinary day, mid-June and the weather was fantastic. My friends and I spent as much time as possible outside and the majority of our lessons ended early due to lack of concentration.

In the afternoon everything was peaceful, what with all of the younger pupils cooped up inside, apart from the partly-rhythmic sound of traffic coming from the nearby motorway.

I had excused myself to visit the loo and was walking down a corridor near the science department when I heard three consecutive crashes and the deafening siren of the fire alarm. Shouts and screaming followed and then a stampede of pupils and teachers making for the exit at the end of the corridor onto the grounds. I was frozen to the spot in utter shock and confusion.

As the crowd disappeared, a man came charging through the double doors of the fire escape they had just ran through. A man dressed in a burgundy shirt, tweed jacket and a chocolate-brown bow tie.  
>I was puzzled by the fact that the fire escape was only operable from the inside until I heard the high-pitched sound and saw the flash of green coming from a thin, cylindrical instrument in his hand…<p>

_Impossible._ I thought. _Not now.  
><em>Yet it only made sense with the thunderous crashes and the terrified faces of the students. There were aliens in my school.

Upon instinct I ran after him, through another set of double doors and into a significantly wider corridor with the Hall straight ahead and two classrooms either side. Except there was smoke pouring out one of nearest classroom. I could only guess that something huge had crashed into that classroom from the outside.

Coughing, I crouched down and peered around the open doorway.

Amongst the wreckage of my old Physics classroom was most definitely a spacecraft, like something you'd see in Star Trek. It was about the height of a petrol tanker but twice as wide and oval-shaped, grey in colour and making bizarre beeping noises.

But the sight of the spaceship didn't shock me any more than the sight of the two aliens that stood in front of it. They were about seven feet tall and rather fat with long forearms. At the end of each forearm were three long, fat fingers with equally long claws. Their heads were abnormally too small for their bodies, with bulging black eyes, which sat on top of long necks - alarming like E.T.

And they were green.  
>When they spoke, it was clearly English, but it sounded like someone speaking into a glass of water.<p>

That sort of gargle effect.

"We're here to invade your precious Planet Earth and colonise to reform our species." That was clearly a male voice, it was fast and deep but the gargle effect somehow distorted it so it was quite hard to distinguish what he was saying.

"Oh don't give me that, you know it won't work. There are less of you than there were last time and I stopped you then!" The Doctor replied.

It could only be the Doctor, with his sonic screwdriver and his passion for saving the world from aliens. But he was not how I remembered him. Sure his outfit was different but so was his voice...

"Actually, since we last saw you we've returned here several more times only to have been thwarted by Sarah-Jane Smith and her gang of pathetic children. A friend of yours?" The other alien said, this one had a more female voice.

_Sarah-Jane Smith? What about Rose?  
><em>I concluded that the Doctor must have had several friends as he travelled far and wide.

The Doctor laughed darkly. "What you really must understand is that it does not matter how far away I go from this planet. It is always protected."

The male alien spoke with a chuckle. "But we'll keep returning Doctor. We want revenge for the many Slitheen your friend Miss Smith has killed."

_Slitheen must be their species...  
><em>And yes, they had just confirmed that it was the Doctor I had followed.

The smoke was gradually getting thicker to the point where I had to sink to my knees to avoid it.  
>I was glad of it in a way though, as it concealed me from the sight of these 'Slitheen' which were facing the door.<p>

"Well, if I'm totally honest with you. Picking a school to crash-land into really wasn't a good idea. One, because there are lots of witnesses around and-"

But he was cut off by a sudden explosion from the wrecked spaceship which sent him flying through the open doorway and sprawling into the opposite wall.

He sat there for a few moments, dazed, before fumbling in his jacket pocket for the screwdriver and leaping up again. I only just managed to move out of the way before he slammed the classroom door shut, trapping the two Slitheen inside.

He flicked the sonic device into life - the familiar sound bringing to light memories of a past that seemed so distant - and aimed it at the door. There was an unmistakeable sound of a lock clicking.

The Doctor then finally turned to me. "What were you sneaking around here for young lady? Your school's fire alarm is extremely hard to miss and yet here you are in an obvious danger zone." waving dramatically at the classroom he had just been thrown out of.

"Errrr..." was all I could manage before there was a loud BANG! on the door which seemed to snap him back to the urgency of the situation.

"Ahhh. Yes. Right. Where's your food storage?"

I just looked at him quizzically.

"You know, the food hall...no? Kitchen...no? Cafeteria!" he almost shouted, clicking his fingers when I showed the slightest understanding of what he was after. "Yes that's it. Take me to the cafeteria. I want some chips!"

"You think now is a good time to eat? There are two aliens in that classroom which you have just locked with that screwdriver and you want to eat?" I asked incredulously, however I started in the direction of the cafeteria which was the other side of the school.

I was already a few steps in front of him before he caught up.  
>"Screwdriver?" he asked.<p>

"Yes, screwdriver. A sonic screwdriver actually, which can open and lock doors and all sorts of other impressive settings." I replied casually.

I had him. He was totally speechless.

"I'm sorry, I'm guessing I'm freaking you out a little... We've met before, a long time ago, and I used your sonic screwdriver to stop some kind of alien mind-control machine..."

There was another loud BANG! behind us and the classroom door was flung off it's hinges, the glass window shattering as it hit the opposite wall. The Slitheen were coming after us.

The Doctor grabbed my hand and we were running.

"Which way do we go? And what is your name?" He shouted.

"Next left, out of the door and straight across the netball courts into the opposite building!" I shouted back. "And it's Ali."

I glanced over my shoulder before we rounded the corner and just caught a glimpse of the two aliens waddling after us.

When we were inside the opposite building, the Doctor got out his screwdriver again and locked the door.

"Should buy us some time!" He said, panting. "I don't think I've ever stopped Slitheen like this before but right now I think it is the quickest way. We need vinegar!"

"What?"

"They're allergic to it. It'll sort of make them explode..." he trailed off, looking expectantly at me.

We reached the deserted cafeteria and I ran straight to the back where the bottles were stored. There were about twenty, each roughly thirty centimetres tall.

"Brilliant! Any buckets by any chance?"

There was a cleaner's mop and bucket in the corner. I tipped the contents down the nearest sink and I followed his lead as he rapidly started emptying the many bottles of vinegar into the bucket.

Seconds later, the Slitheen were in the room with us.

"There's not enough vinegar in the bucket!" The Doctor cried.

"So, what do we do?"

"Improvise. Ali, how good is your aim?"

After he'd thrown what little contents of the bucket there was at the male Slitheen which let out a frustrated cry, the Doctor had me hurl as many bottles of vinegar as I could into the air a few feet above the female. The Doctor used his sonic screwdriver to burst them so their contents rained down on both of the green invaders.

After only a few, both Slitheen seemed to swell and just as the Doctor predicted, exploded.  
>We were both covered from head to foot in thick, green slime.<p>

"Haha!" The Doctor laughed in triumph.

o o o

After I managed to get my head around what I had just done, the Doctor quizzed me about the first time we'd met and what had happened afterwards.  
>I told him.<br>How he'd trusted me with his sonic screwdriver, how I had used it to switch a minor setting on a machine hidden in a lighthouse on the nearby island and how his friend Rose had helped me.  
>But I didn't mention London.<p>

When he heard Rose's name, his face seemed sad but he smiled at the memory. I asked him about what they'd done after they left me but he wouldn't answer me. Instead he said he wanted to show me something.

He led back the way we had come and out to the front of the school. I had no idea how I would explain the damage - the wrecked classroom, several smashed doors and the green goo spattered up the walls of the cafeteria.

But those thoughts left me when I saw the blue police box.

"This is your spaceship isn't it?" I breathed. It was beautiful even for a telephone box. It looked newly built, the paintwork shining in the sun.

"Yes this sexy thing is the TARDIS. Time And Relative Dimension In Space. She can travel across space and through time, she can take you wherever you want to go!" he replied enthusiastically.

I picked up the hint. "You want me to come with you?"

"I'd love you to come with me. I must say I rather think I owe it to you. After. Everything..." he trailed off.

"But what about everything that's happened here? We've made a lot of mess!" I reasoned.

"Oh don't worry about that... I'm sure some of my good Cardiff friends can cover it up!" he said, beaming.

"Errrm right." I said, staring down at the TARDIS-blue dress I was wearing with my white converse which were heavily patched with lime-green slime.

"Oh never mind there's a whole wardrobe in there. And a laundry room!" He added as he inserted a key into the lock and stepped inside.

o o o

The places he took me. The creatures he showed me.  
>It was best time of my life.<br>It enabled me to forget anything that had ever happened to me which could have stirred up any hatred of him within.

When we returned, barely an hour had passed since we'd left.  
>Of course, I had to answer to my friends as I'd just taken off for an hour without telling them and without my bag or my phone which was reckless.<p>

But I told my father everything.  
>What had really happened at school and where I went afterwards. I thought he would be angry at me. But he listened to me intently as I recalled everywhere we'd visited and everything we'd helped or defeated.<p>

I also told him everything the Doctor had told me. About him and his friends.  
>What happened to Rose Tyler at the Battle of Canary Wharf.<br>How Sarah-Jane Smith kept on fighting to save the Earth without him.  
>About Captain Jack Harkness and the Doctor-Donna.<br>How Martha Jones joined UNIT and married Mickey Smith the idiot - unbelievably Rose's ex-boyfriend.  
>And about his future wife, River Song and how they kept meeting in the wrong order.<p>

* * *

><p>But he failed to warn me about Torchwood.<br>Joining Torchwood was the second major mistake in my life.


	2. Introductions

**Reconciliation.**

**Chapter One: Introductions.**

* * *

><p>Luke Smith drummed his finger on the monitor in anxiety, weighing up his options.<p>

He had been debating the same thing for three days now: to mention or not to mention?

Rani and Clyde both suggested when he confided in them the first day that it only meant one thing, and Luke agreed. But Mum had mentioned once how He felt about Torchwood, which was what sparked his current indecision.

It was times like this when he wished more than anything that she was still here with him. She always knew what to do, no matter the circumstances. And regarding this one, Sarah Jane Smith would certainly want to investigate.

He missed her so much. She had found him, rescued him and cared for him; showed him so much of the Universe. And in return he had helped her. And the Doctor.

It was extremely hard to just forget it all.

But time was moving on. He had Sky his younger sister to look out for, although that was mostly done with help from Haresh and Gita Chandra (Rani's parents) and Torchwood to keep him occupied.

Luke reflected on how much he appreciated working for Torchwood as it made him feel like he was helping the Earth and Universe again. It was his duty. And it was somewhat some relief…

Just like that, everything seemed to click into place. And the decision was made.

"Jack, Martha. I think you might be interested in this."

o o o

Martha Jones was in the lab finishing up Luke's file.

Poor kid. After everything he's been through…

She had tried to protest to Jack against using him but to no avail. After all, they needed him. An alien superhuman genius complete with an alien supercomputer sidekick could be dangerous in the wrong hands… And that's precisely what the circumstances of his 'creation' had been.

She mentally shook herself. _I'm making this sound way too much like Frankenstein's monster.. _She thought.

Martha was still having difficulty working it out in her head. She knew the basics, and had even met Sarah Jane once before. It was truly inspirational what she had done and how many times too.

But the kids seemed too young. Luke's "sister" from the Tornado Nebula was what, 12? She looked it in human years anyway… And Luke's friends (Rudi and Clive was it?) were certainly under 18. Granted Jack had agreed to keep them out of harm's way, that didn't stop them from trying to help…

Speaking of the devil, Jack stuck his head through the lab door. "Martha Jones! Luke Smith would like the pleasure of our company," He said chirpily.

She couldn't help but smile. "I accept the invitation."

o o o

Gwen Cooper busied herself at her desk scanning through file after file of reported alien sitings from the Cardiff police. Andy really took advantage of their friendship sometimes…

Good thing she appreciated his help and support enough to bother.

Nearly all the reports she read were descriptions of weevils; nothing too urgent to worry about.

There were a selective few about an attack on some high school a few days earlier on the outskirts concerning a crashed spaceship. But Torchwood had that covered already: gas leak.  
>Believable due to the location of the reported siting: a physics classroom; with an active gas supply for use with Bunsen burners. Faulty gas pipes; simple.<p>

The truth was a spaceship had crashed into the physics classroom and green goo had been scattered all over the canteen, meaning one thing: Slitheen.

And vinegar.  
>But who had done it?<p>

Luke had insisted his friends didn't go to that school so it wasn't them.  
>This only left one suspect.<p>

The Doctor.

But why would he not give any contact?

Jack knew the answer, this was obvious to Gwen. It was written all over his face but he wouldn't spill.  
>She'd get the answer out of him at some point.<p>

She looked up and saw Jack, Luke and Martha gathered around the monitor.

_Another mission_ smiled Gwen.

_About time too._

o o o

"What's up Lukey boy?" Jack Harkness asked enthusiastically, swaggering up to him with Martha close behind.

Luke was a good kid; genius. And as alien as they came.

Jack noticed that he looked excited, but nervous at the same time. Sometimes he underestimated his own abilities.

"This." Luke said simply, pointing at a pulsing dot on the monitor.

"What am I looking at?"

"Artron energy."

"No. Way!" Jack asked seriously. Could it be..? "Give me the details!"

Martha looked confused. "What's artron energy?"

"Everyone who has ever travelled in the Time Vortex via TARDIS absorbs artron energy as a sort of background radiation." Jack reeled off, turning to Martha. "When was the last time you had a common cold?"

"Ermm.. I don't know. A while?"

"See, that's an effect of artron energy. It boosts your immune system making humans better at fighting diseases!"

"So what's Luke getting at?" Martha replied.

Luke pointed at the monitor again. "This is a map of Cardiff. I started running artron energy checks a while back just as a precaution but normally nothing shows. Then, three days ago this anomaly showed." He pointed to the dot which was located near the outskirts. "That's all I thought it to be at first, just an anomaly, from one of us travelling around but the energy shouldn't be that strong now if even there."

This was interesting.

"Three days ago?" Martha inquired. Luke nodded. "That correlates to that incident at St. David's college with the slitheen. Coincidence?"

"Well we have strong suspicions as to who was really behind that mess!" Jack piped up. Then another thought struck him. "Shouldn't it have disappeared by now if it was the Doctor?"

Luke continued. "Or for the remaining few isolated particles to have scattered; yes, exactly. We know the TARDIS isn't anywhere to be seen. I kept an eye on it but it still hasn't disappeared. And then I noticed something else. The energy moves to approximately the same places at the same times throughout the day, and is then repeated. Now it's late afternoon, see it's moving again towards the centre?"

Jack couldn't help but grin.

"So does that mean...?" began Martha.

"We've got ourselves a time traveller." Said Jack, nodding. "The Doctor's latest companion."

The monitor gave a high-pitched wail.  
><em>Weevils. <em>Jack thought.

Gwen came running over. "What's the gossip?"

Martha filled her in. "Luke's picked up Time Vortex energy meaning there's another friend in town and now we've got weevils on the move near the bus station."

"How many?"

"Two by the looks of things, bound to be more the way they huddle..." Jack said. "Right, I'm going after them!" As he swung the huge tranquilliser gun over his shoulder, he contemplated how it always made him feel like a ghostbuster... "I also may get to track down this time traveller of ours, wish me luck!"

o o o

Ali couldn't wait to get home.

It had been one of those days where nothing had gone in her favour.

Firstly, she had spilled hydrochloric acid over her work in Chemistry, dissolving both hers and a class-mate's work, and putting a dent into one of the tables.  
>Then while in the cafeteria had tripped over a chair, sending her plate of spaghetti bolognaise flying. And the final straw was missing the bus, meaning she'd had to wait an extra half-hour for the next service bus to the centre.<p>

Smooth…

St. David's college had been closed for two days to allow for emergency clean-up and repairs after the explosion caused by a 'gas leak'. Ali of course knew otherwise.  
>It had been a huge struggle keeping a straight, serious face whenever the subject had arisen during the day. And it didn't ever seem to stop, which really had not helped.<p>

She had had some people, mainly her friends interrogating her regarding her disappearance immediately after the incident, but she had managed to keep it under wraps with the excuse that she had needed a walk to think things over.

_Not the best excuse admittedly. _She thought. _But it's certainly more believable than the truth._

The bus reached the city centre station.  
><em>I can't wait to tuck into a takeaway.<em>

Pandemonium.

People were running in all directions, screaming.  
>A few bays along was an unmistakable cloud of smoke coming from a double decker.<br>And an animal.

At least that's what it looked like from a distance.  
><em>A human in a mask?<em>

Ali stopped and stared, curious.

It was certainly walking around on two legs.  
><em>No, lolloping.<em>

It was definitely _not_ human. Not with those sharp fangs…

The only creature Ali could liken it to was an ood, but with fangs instead of tentacle-like feelers for the mouth…

Instinctively she began to walk closer to it along the narrow stretch of pavement that divided the bays. She could tell the bus driver was dead and couldn't bear to look at the torn and mauled remains.

She realised too late that she had done the wrong thing. It turned around, sensing the warm blood pulsing in her veins, her cold nervous sweat.

_Ahhh…_ she thought. _Maybe this wasn't such a bright idea after all…_

A man in a military trench coat appeared out of nowhere, a loaded gun in his hands.  
>A terminator sized loaded gun…<p>

"A fan of aliens are we?" The man asked, preparing the gun to fire.

Ali took that as her cue to move. She didn't run, just took a few steps back until she was safely behind the newcomer.  
>One look at the man with the gun and the <em>thing <em>scarpered away.

"Captain Jack Harkness." The man declared, holding out his hand. "Who might you be?"

"Ali Hardy." Ali replied, shaking his hand.

"You appear to have a rather odd fight-or-flight reflex compared to everyone else in this area!" Jack said. "That interests me a lot! Let's go for a walk and you can tell me more about yourself."

He then pressed a finger to his left ear. "Guys, how's that signal looking?"

Ali faintly heard the words "it's right on top of you" coming from Jacks finger.

Jack grinned.

o o o

Mickey Smith was annoyed at being the last one to find out.  
>It was related to the Doctor for crying out loud, if anything he should have been one of the first to know…<p>

_I'm__ totally the tin-dog!_ He thought resignedly.

Now the whole team – minus Jack – was gathered around the monitor listening to the conversation through Jack's com. He had discreetly and conveniently left it on-line so they could listen in to what was being said.

From what they could gather, the girl was about Luke's age; late teens.

"My family used to live in Aberdaron on the North coast of Wales; tiny village. My parents ran the pub, where the locals would come to eat and drink, play pool and watch the football. I was just 10 years old at the time.

A pause.  
>"The children had nightmares every night."<p>

"Nightmares are normal for children, you know." Jack mused.  
>Mickey couldn't help but agree despite the insensitivity.<p>

"But these creatures from our dreams would come to life; every night. They would come to life and terrorise the village. There were these people at this old hospital… that used our minds to create their own Frankenstein monster to restore themselves to youth."

"And the Doctor stopped them?"

"Yeah. He had a friend, Rose. I helped her save the village with a screwdriver! But then they left…"

"Rose Tyler?"

There was an audible gasp from the team.

_Rose… It had been a while since he'd heard that name._

"Yeah. The Doctor said you met her."

"How could I possibly forget her? Did he just mention me and Rose?"

Mickey sniggered. Trust Jack to ask for all the gossip knowing full well they were all listening.

The girl continued. "Oh no, he told me about lots of his other friends: Martha Jones who works for UNIT, even Mickey the idiot and also the DoctorDonna! But Sarah Jane was his favourite aside from Rose though. The Doctor talked about her so much. How she has a robot dog called K9 that he built for her and even a son called Luke, and how she carried on as if the Doctor never left with some of Luke's friends…"

"So what happened after the Doctor left? You obviously didn't stay in Aberdaron."

"We couldn't bear to. No-one could. One by one each family packed up and moved. My family were the last to leave; my parents didn't want to leave the pub, it was our family business. But a new location would mean a new start."

"So you moved to Cardiff?"

She hesitated. "No. London."

_Ouch…_

"Yeahhhh. You could say I've been pretty unlucky. We were there when the whole Canary Wharf Cyberman-Dalek fight kicked off. That was almost the final straw."

"What happened?"

"My mother left the house that morning to go shopping and didn't come home."

_Double ouch…_

"Then you moved to Cardiff?"

"Yepp. Dad and I had our normal life back. I went to secondary school, made new friends, studied hard and graduated. Moved onto college… and then the Doctor returned."

"Saint David's? But that was only what, a few _days_ ago?!

"How do you…?"

"We were the ones who passed it off for a gas leak. So how did you end up travelling with him?"

"It wasn't just him who fought off the slitheen! I didn't know who he was at first as he had regenerated but I recognised his sonic screwdriver and ran after him. I told him who I was and reminded him of Rose and what they did back in Aberdaron. And it took off from there."

"Ali Hardy, would you do me the honour of accompanying me back to Torchwood HQ?"

"I shall!" came her reply as the com finally went offline.

There was silence in the Hub as the information they had just heard digested.

"Collector's item number four." Rex remarked.

o o o o

* * *

><p>AN: I'm sorry it's been so long, I wrote out this entire chapter three months ago but didn't like it and decided it wasn't what I wanted so scrapped it and started again... But please let me know what you think, thank-you!


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